Florentino Ameghino
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| Florentino Ameghino | |
 Florentino Ameghino (in the 1890s)
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| Born | September 18, 1854 Luján |
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| Died | August 6, 1911 Buenos Aires |
| Nationality | Argentine |
| Fields | paleontologist |
Florentino Ameghino (September 18, 1854 – August 6, 1911) was an Argentinian naturalist, paleontologist, anthropologist and zoologist.
Born in Luján of Italian immigrants (some sources state he himself was born in Italy), Ameghino was a self-taught naturalist, and focused his study on the lands of the southern Pampas. He formed one of the largest collections of fossils of the world at the time, which served him as base for numerous geological and paleontological studies. He also investigated the possible presence of prehistoric man in the Pampas and made several controversial claims about human origins in South America.
Ameghino was appointed professor of zoology at the University of Córdoba, subdirector of the La Plata Museum, and director of the National Museum of Buenos Aires.
He died from diabetes in Buenos Aires.
The Ameghino crater on the Moon was named in his honour.
The Florentino Ameghino Partido and its head town of Ameghino, situated in the north-west of Buenos Aires Province are also named after him.
[edit] References
- Garate, Justo (1970). "Ameghino, Florentino". Dictionary of Scientific Biography 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 129-132. ISBN 0684101149.
- Shampo, M A; Kyle R A (Sep 1987). "Argentinian paleontologist contributes to the understanding of humans and the environment". Mayo Clin. Proc. 62 (9): 855. PMID 3306184.
[edit] External links
- Florentino Ameghino biography (Spanish)
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